The effects of nutritional factors on behavior and plasma corticosterone concentration in the white leghorn chicken

• Main Author: Gill, Bhupinder Singh
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Poultry > Feeding and feeds
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/18708

The effects of various dietary treatments on metabolic responses related to adrenal functions have been studied in growing white leghorn chickens. Birds fed a diet containing 20.9% of protein and deficient in lysine (.51%) showed higher plasma c0rticoster0ne concentrations, increased adrenal size, and increased oxygen consumption compared with birds fed a diet of similar protein content and adequate in lysine (1.11%). Birds fed the lysine-deficient diet showed more exploratory behaviour when placed on a grid than did the birds fed the diet supplemented with lysine. They took a longer time, however, to locate feed in a maze. Thiouracil with hypervitaminosis e, administered to birds through the diet, increased the concentration of corticosterone in the plasma. Hypervitaminosis e did not affect the concentration of corticosterone in the plasma. The concentration of c0rticoster0ne was similar in the plasma of chicks reared at 13 and 24°c. === Land and Food Systems, Faculty of === Graduate